


To Freedom

by aidennestorm



Series: We Keep Living [7]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Angst, Anxiety, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Pining, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aidennestorm/pseuds/aidennestorm
Summary: This is how the universe works: Hamilton and Washington get trapped in a shuttlecraft, mere weeks after Hamilton’s return to duty.He’s fine. Everything’sfine.
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/George Washington
Series: We Keep Living [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1136549
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	To Freedom

He can do this. 

He  _ can. _ So their shuttlecraft is adrift in space, nothing but the reserve power on to keep a blip of life support and communications. So it’s dark, the only ambient light the starlight prickling through the windshield. 

Hamilton’s head is tucked against his knees, his back resting uncomfortably against the cool bulkhead, as he tries not to panic.

_ A fresh start, _ Washington had offered, solemn and serious.  _ As much of one as we can get, of course, if we wish for our postings on this ship to continue to coincide. _

He had understood what Washington wasn't saying, too. How they used to be on the same wavelength, Hamilton giving Washington what he needed before he even asked. How they  _ had  _ to learn to work together if Hamilton refused to transfer, if he refused to let Washington resign. 

So he’s stuck in a shuttlecraft, with his captain, on the away mission that should have been nothing more than a milk run. 

He’s  _ trapped _ in a goddamn  _ shuttlecraft, _ and despite years of danger he’s faced alongside his captain, this seems one of the most harrowing scenarios he could’ve ever envisioned.

The silence is oppressive, deafening. Washington’s also abandoned the cockpit; there seems little point in sitting in one place when all they can do is wait for pickup by the  _ Nelson. _ He hears the soft tap of Washington reading through a datapad, but—

“Just say it, sir,” Hamilton rasps. 

The tapping stops. “I don’t understand, Lieutenant.”

Hamilton laughs. Harsh and rough and  _ fantastic, _ there goes any expectation to  _ not panic. _ “I can hear you thinking. Go on, say what’s on your mind. It’s not like we have anything else to do.”

He looks up. There’s discomfort, reluctance, written on Washington’s handsome  _ (not handsome, don’t think about that, stop  _ thinking _ Alex) _ face. Obvious hesitation. 

“I… had considered…” Washington huffs a sigh, runs a hand across his face; he suddenly looks tired and worn. “I was going to offer a spacewalk,” he finally confesses. “There’s enough power here to safely open and close the airlock, and enough air in a suit to last until the crew arrives.”

Hamilton blinks at him. Voice strangled when he asks, incredulous, “You were going to banish yourself  _ to space?” _

_ For me, _ he hears himself add wordlessly to the end of his query. By the look on Washington’s face, he hears it too. 

“That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” he says instead, before he can stop it, flushing under the sudden influx of horror. Washington is still his captain, he’s  _ trying, _ they’re  _ trying, _ why is he fucking this  _ up— _

Washington coughs; it’s incongruous enough that it startles Hamilton out of the worst of his spiraling thoughts. Washington’s… smiling? It’s not so much a smile as a small upturn at the corners of his mouth, but… 

“I guessed that you wouldn’t find it logical,” Washington murmurs, a grounding thread in the middle of Hamilton’s internal storm. “God knows Dr. Schuyler would agree with you.”

Hamilton’s breath catches a little. They don’t talk about this. They don’t talk about the steps they’re taking to be better, something resembling  _ normal.  _ It’s an offering, though. A small one, low stakes, that Hamilton can keep nestled close. 

This time, he’s carefully prepared with his honest reply. “Maria would too.”

Washington’s face flashes in surprise, so quick that Hamilton would have missed it if he wasn’t actually looking. While the stunned silence lingers, Hamilton gestures at the datapad in Washington’s hands. Washington doesn’t move toward him, just leans over to slide it, skittering, across the bulkhead in his direction. 

Hamilton’s grateful. 

Once it’s in his hands he taps on it a few times, accesses some of the pre-loaded memory files. He finds what he’s looking for and opens the program, sliding his finger across the screen, then uncurls from his corner enough to stretch out his arm, offering it back. 

Washington looks at him. Reaches out to him, and takes the datapad with a careful grasp, clearly perplexed. After he surveys it, he glances up curiously. “The Knight’s Gambit?” 

Hamilton shrugs. As if his heart isn’t now pounding for an entirely different reason because it’s been  _ months. _ But Washington hums to himself and turns his attention back to the screen— a look Hamilton recognizes from previous tri-d chess matches— and now he  _ is _ smiling faintly as he contemplates his first move. 

Even though Washington won’t see it, Hamilton can’t help but smile a little, too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt words: fresh, harrow, logical.
> 
> Some details for this verse! Because I’m arranging the series in narrative chronological order but they’re not being written/posted that way I wanted to make clear: Eliza is Washington’s therapist, in addition to CMO for the entire ship and Maria Reynolds is part of the crew and is part of the medical team as well (specifically the mental health lead only, and is Hamilton’s therapist). While it might seem like a potential conflict of interest for Eliza to be the general doctor for the crew/Hamilton at the same time as she works with therapy with Washington, 1) I very much wanted this to have a TOS feel, and McCoy did nearly everything medical-related on the ship, and 2) as the CMO, she’s pretty much the one person on the ship that can overrule Washington’s fitness for command. In that way, she has power in the patient-provider relationship that any other crewperson wouldn’t have over him, which is what makes Eliza a good choice.
> 
> (Yes, I *thought* about this ;)
> 
> Take care, y’all. <3


End file.
